Brief Review of U.S. SME Trading Companies in 2010
December 6, 2012David Moore is an economist in the Office of Trade and Industry Information within the International Trade Administration.
This week the International Trade Administration’s Office of Trade and Industry Information released an annual update to its website for the U.S. Commerce Department’s Exporter Database (EDB) for 2010. This joint project with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division is the cornerstone of ITA’s Trade Data Enhancement Initiative, the goal of which is to develop and disseminate improved statistical information on U.S. international trade and its role in the U.S. economy. Additional information on the EDB can be obtained by viewing the U.S. Census Bureau’s Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies, 2009-2010.
In 2010, more than 293,000 U.S. companies exported goods, up 6.0 percent from the revised 2009 estimate of 276,600. In 2010, nearly 98 percent of U.S. exporters (286,661) were small or medium-sized companies (SMEs*) with fewer than 500 employees, a 6.1 percent increase over 2009. Further, the known merchandise export value of SMEs rose to $383.4 billion in 2010, up 24.1 percent from 2009 and this accounted for 33.7 percent of the $1,138 billion total known merchandise export value of all companies.
SME Exports at the State Level
SME exports are concentrated in the largest exporting states, with the top four exporting more than $30 billion from SMEs. California had the largest value of SME exports ($68.1 billion) in 2010, followed by Texas ($51.2 billion), New York ($34.4 billion), and Florida ($33.6 billion).
Note: SME values for Vermont are unavailable for 2010.
However, SME exporters represent a large share of the value of U.S. exports in both small and large states. 79 percent of Montana’s exports in 2010 were from SMEs, the highest share in the nation. Florida, Rhode Island, Wyoming, and New York all had an SME share of exports over 50% as well.
SME Exporters at the Metropolitan Level
The New York metro area had the largest number of known SME exporters at 32,300, followed closely by Los Angles (32,100), Miami (26,300), Chicago (13,300), and Houston (10,500). Further world destination break-outs by the European Union-27, NAFTA, ASEAN, and DR-CAFTA are shown below. Other country groupings such as APEC and OPEC can also be accessed using the EDB website.
SME Exporters at the Five-Digit Zip Code Level
Of the 25,754 zip-codes in the U.S. reporting at least one SME exporter, nine of these zip-codes reported one thousand or more SME exporters. Miami had the largest concentration in five zip codes (33166, 33172, 33178, 33122, 33126), followed by New York in three zip codes (10036, 10018 and 10001) and Los Angeles in one (90021). Further, 673 zip-codes reported between 100 – 923 known SME exporters, while the remaining balance of zip codes reported between 1 and 99.
In closing, the EDB offers a whole host of information on U.S. exporters, not only by company size and type (manufacturers, wholesalers and other non-manufacturing firms) but also by 3 and 4 digit NAICS product codes, and export country destination, etc. This is just a small slice of EDB data available on our website, but we encourage U.S. companies and professionals working in global trade, policy, cooperation and promotion to utilize this snap-shot of 2010 as they continue to map out their strategies for export success in the future.
*SMEs are defined as firms that have fewer than 500 employees. All figures in this overview include only identifiable or “known” exports, i.e., exports that can be linked to individual companies using information on U.S. export declarations.
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